Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

Pause and listen, in the rustles of a late summer breeze stirring the majestic birch, for an echo of the Russian soul. Russians have a very special relationship with the birch tree. Find out more!

article summary —

The Russian birch is deliciously beautiful. Slender, elegant, mournful: whatever the mood of the Russian skies, the birch has something of the Russian soul. "Charming, modest birches, I love them better than any other trees," says Vershinin in Chekhov's The Three Sisters. The birch features in the work of so many Russian artists. For Isaak Levitan, a good friend of Chekhov, the birch is slight, lyrical, elvene; birches feature in a score of his paintings. For other Russian landscape artists, the playful birch with its pink tinged bark offsets the gravitas of the country's great tracts of dark coniferous forest.


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About the authors

hidden europe

and manage hidden europe, a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. Nicky and Susanne are dedicated slow travellers. They delight in discovering the exotic in the everyday.

This article was published in hidden europe 22.